Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/487054
maltatoday, Sunday, 29 March 2015 Sport 37 A massive downpour arrived mid- way through Q2, causing several delays to the final shootout for pole. When it did get underway, Hamilton moved to the front immediately with an imperious lap that would ulti- mately prove enough to secure pole. It was mightily close however, as Vettel improved at the end to get within 0.074s of the lead Silver Ar- rows. His gain was Nico Rosberg's loss: the German was unable to im- prove on his own flyer and had to settle for third. With Ferrari looking quick, and with the weather promis- ing potential upsets, Mercedes may have a fight on their hands on Sun- day. Q1 got underway with a 70 percent chance of rain at some stage during the afternoon - the question being therefore whether qualifying would finish before the storms arrived. Mediums were therefore the tyre of choice for many, as the field looked for banker laps. And as the sky dark- ened and thunderclaps boomed late in the session, Hamilton and Rosberg set the pace with 1m 39.269s and 1m 39.374s respectively on the mediums - although Vettel's 1m 39.814s on the hards was ominous. That was later equalled by Sainz, on mediums. A rash of late improvements final- ly saw Felipe Nasr as the first man not to get through to Q2, with 1m 41.308s in his Sauber. But that left him comfortably ahead of the McLa- rens. Jenson Button beat Fernando Alonso as the Spaniard's final effort came up short; they lapped in 1m 41.636s and 1m 41.746s respectively. Roberto Merhi made a brave effort to qualify in his Marussia, cutting down to 1m 46.677s despite a half spin, but team mate Will Stevens didn't get out at all as fuel system problems from FP3 could not be rec- tified in time. The 107 percent time was 1m 46.217s, so it remains to be seen whether either of the red and white cars will be allowed to race. The start of Q2 saw a mass exodus from the pits as everyone rushed out on mediums, this time desperate for banker laps as forecasts revealed rain would hit within minutes. Rosberg set the pace with 1m 39.377s, but Hamilton was ham- pered by traffic - Mercedes couldn't get him out in time as his engine didn't fire up fast enough - and only just squeezed through. Vettel was second, only three-tenths off the Mercedes, with Williams' Valtteri Bottas next up ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, Lotus's Romain Grosjean, Felipe Massa in the sec- ond Williams, Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen and Hamilton. Daniil Kvyat in the second Red Bull and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson filled out the top 10. Kimi Raikkonen was therefore the highest profile casualty of Q2, as the former world champion could only manage a 1m 42.173s that left him 11th and out of Q3. Pastor Maldo- nado also failed for Lotus, with 1m 42.198s, while the Force Indias were 13th and 14th on 1m 43.023s for Nico Hulkenberg and 1m 43.469s for Sergio Perez. It was also disastrous session for Carlos Sainz, who man- aged only 1m 43.701s for 15th in his Toro Rosso. The heavens really opened after the first set of f lyers, effectively seal- ing the order. From then, it became a matter of waiting to see just how bad the rain got. At 17.40 it was an- nounced that Q3 would be delayed for at least 15 minutes, and the wait- ing began. With cars also going into parc ferme, decisions had to be made as to what settings to run as a hedge against the existing weather in qual- ifying and likely weather conditions on race day. Eventually, Q3 got going, on a still- wet track, at 18.15, only half an hour late. The smart teams put their cars on intermediates straight away, which meant that Williams, Lotus and Sauber erred in their choice of full wets and quickly had to switch rub- ber. Vettel set the pace with 1m 53.178s before immediately being displaced by Rosberg on 1m 51.066s, but Ham- ilton got the job done beautifully with 1m 49.834s, at the time putting him more than a second clear of the field. On their second runs Hamilton failed to improve, and as Rosberg came up short with 1m 50.299s it was Vettel who came dangerously close to snatching pole with 1m 49.908s for Ferrari. Behind them, the Red Bull driv- ers were fourth and fifth, with Ric- ciardo on 1m 51.541s and Kvyat on 1m 51.951s, while a quite extraor- dinarily mature performance saw rookie Verstappen sixth on 1m 51.981s. Williams' mistake on tyre choice appeared to cost them, as Massa was only seventh on 1m 52.473s and Bottas ninth on 1m 53.179s. The pair were separated by Gros- jean's 1m 52.981s. Ericsson's trans- formation continued, meanwhile, as he guided his Sauber to 10th. Thus the provisional grid cur- rently reads: Hamilton, Vettel; Ros- berg, Ricciardo; Kvyat, Verstappen; Massa, Grosjean; Bottas, Ericsson; Raikkonen, Maldonado; Hulken- berg, Perez, Sainz, Nasr; Button, Alonso. The two Marussias will need dis- pensation to race, while Grosjean is under investigation for not leaving the pit lane correctly during Q2. formula 1 Pos. Driver Team Time Laps 1. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:49.834 13 2. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:49.908 13 3. N. Rosberg Mercedes 01:50.299 13 4. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:51.541 16 5. D. Kvyat Red Bull 01:51.951 16 6. M. Verstappen Toro Rosso 01:51.981 16 7. F. Massa Williams 01:52.473 17 8. R. Grosjean Lotus 01:52.981 18 9. V. Bottas Williams 01:53.179 14 10. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:53.026 18 11. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 01:42.173 7 12. P. Maldonado Lotus 01:42.198 11 13. N. Hulkenberg Force India 01:43.023 9 14. S. Perez Force India 01:43.469 11 15. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:43.701 9 16. F. Nasr Sauber 01:41.308 7 17. J. Button McLaren 01:41.636 8 18. F. Alonso McLaren 01:41.746 8 results - did not qualify 19. R. Merhi Manor 01:46.677 7 20. W. Stevens Manor no time 0 Qualifying results - 2015 Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix (+356) 800 737 70 Freephone: cabs t minivans t vip transport t luxury coaches t vintage buses 2138 9575 / 9921 5286 info@cabs.com.mt w w w . c a b s . c o m . m t Hamilton denies Vettel after Sepang downpour Lewis hamilton claimed his and Mercedes' second pole of the season after denying Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in a dramatic and rain-hit qualifying session in Malaysia yesterday Lewis Hamilton will start the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix from pole position